Chinese New Year Dessert Recipe: Brown Sugar Rice Cake!
The Lunar New Year is the biggest festival in China. During this festive season, Chinese people make a variety of desserts. This brown sugar rice cake is one of those desserts that people love to eat and share with their loved ones during the New Year festival. It is also known as nian gao.
Today, I will show you this Chinese New Year dessert recipe in simple steps. Following this recipe, you can make sweet and chewy rice cake that has a crispy texture on the outside. Let’s make the New Year festival more vibrant with this rice cake.
Table of Contents
Chinese New Year Dessert Recipe Overview
Making this rice cake will be easier if you have all the necessary information about the recipe. Here is a quick overview chart for your help.
| Course: Dessert | Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Medium | ||
| Total Time: 7 hours | ||||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories | |
| 6 persons | 6 hours 10 minutes | 50 minutes | 290 kcal | |
Ingredients Needed for the Recipe
The specialty of this rice cake is you can make it with a few ingredients. I used the following ingredients for this recipe, but you can make some variations.
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- Brown Sugar: 2 brown sugar slabs or 200g of brown sugar
- Rice Flour: 400g of glutinous rice flour
- Wheat Starch: 140g
- Coconut Milk: 1½ cups of Thai coconut milk
- Oil: 2 tbsp of neutral oil
- Date: A few red dates, for garnish
Chinese New Year Dessert Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
The making process of this rice cake is really simple. Make sure you follow the steps given below.
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Step 1: Melt the Brown Sugar
Heat water in a pot and add the brown sugar candy to the pot. Stir it continuously and let it melt. Once the sugar syrup boils, take it off the heat and sieve it.
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Step 2: Make the Batter
Sieve rice flour and wheat starch in a bowl. Pour the melted sugar into the bowl. Then, pour the oil and the coconut milk into the bowl as well. Mix everything well.
Step 3: Steam the Cake
Spread some oil or butter inside a cake pan. Then, place a round baking sheet at the bottom. Pour the cake batter into the pan and tap the pan a few times. Place the pan inside a steamer and steam the cake for 45 minutes.
Step 4: Cut the Cake and Fry the Pieces
Once the cake cools down completely, remove it from the pan. Then, cut it into slabs and fry the pieces in oil. It will give the outside a crispy texture and the center will still be chewy. You can garnish the cake with some chopped red dates.
Nutrition Facts of the Recipe
This rice cake has 290 calories per serving and this amount can vary depending on the ingredients you use in the cake. Here is a rough estimate of the nutritional value.
- Total Carbohydrates: 65g
- Protein: 2g
- Total Fat: 2g
- Saturated Fat: 0.5g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0.6g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 0g
- Total Sugar: 20g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Vitamin A: 12IU
Do’s and Don’ts of the Recipe
Old timers used these tips to make their rice cake better. You can still use the tips.
Do’s
- Pass the cake batter through a sieve so that no lump remains in the battery. It will make the cake much smoother.
- Poke the cake with a chopstick after steaming it. Check if the batter sticks to the chopstick.
Don’ts
- Don’t beat the cake batter too much. It will make the cake fluffy. You want this cake to be dense.
- Don’t cut the cake right after steaming it. Otherwise, the slabs will break down.
Chinese New Year Dessert Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Heat water in a pot and add the brown sugar candy to the pot. Stir it continuously and let it melt. Once the sugar syrup boils, take it off the heat and sieve it.
- Sieve rice flour and wheat starch in a bowl. Pour the melted sugar into the bowl. Then, pour the oil and the coconut milk into the bowl as well. Mix everything well.
- Spread some oil or butter inside a cake pan. Then, place a round baking sheet at the bottom. Pour the cake batter into the pan and tap the pan a few times. Place the pan inside a steamer and steam the cake for 45 minutes.
- Once the cake cools down completely, remove it from the pan. Then, cut it into slabs and fry the pieces in oil. It will give the outside a crispy texture and the center will still be chewy. You can garnish the cake with some chopped red dates.
FAQs
I saw many people ask the following questions about this recipe on the internet. So, here are the answers to the picked ones.
Can I use all-purpose flour for this rice cake recipe?
No. You must use rice flour for this cake as this glutinous rice flour gives the cake its chewy texture. All-purpose flour won’t make the cake as dense and chewy.
Is it necessary to use brown sugar for this cake?
Yes. It is because brown sugar gives the cake a dark color. If you use white sugar, the cake will be much lighter. This dark color is the signature of this traditional cake.
Can I store the steamed rice cake in the fridge and fry it later?
Yes. After the cake cools down, you can store it in the fridge. Before serving the cake, let it thaw and fry it in oil for some time.
Q: How do I garnish this rice cake?
Besides using chopped red dates, you can sprinkle chopped almonds, cashews, etc., over the cake. You can also drizzle some honey on top while serving the cake.
Conclusion
Brown sugar rice cake symbolizes prosperity and betterment in Chinese culture. It is mostly made during the Lunar New Year, so it is more commonly known as the Chinese New Year dessert. I put the Chinese New Year dessert recipe together so that you can enjoy this delicious cake and share it with your family.
Serve this jiggly and chewy cake to others during the New Year festival to draw everyone’s attention. You can also make this cake as a dessert for your special dinners or parties.
